The Station is at St. Peter's in Rome.
On this Sunday St. Gregory the Great delivered his magnificent homily on the Gospel of the Good Shepherd, near the tomb of the first universal pastor. Christ founded the papal primacy on the unshakable faith and intense love of Peter; and he, following in his Savior's steps, did not hesitate to give his life for the flock entrusted to him.

The devotion to Jesus the Redeemer under the figure of the Good Shepherd was dear to the faithful from very early times; in the catacombs Christ is frequently represented as a shepherd. The liturgical and traditional use of the Gospel of the Good Shepherd on the second Sunday after Easter is very old. Jesus, therefore, presents Himself to us to-day as the "Good Shepherd" and tells us what will henceforth be His relationship with His flock. Of those outside the fold Our Lord speaks gently; not a word of reproach but merely a statement of facts.

In the Postcommunion we beseech almighty God that, having participated in the sacrament which causes us to live through his own life, he will grant us the enjoyment in eternity of the grace we have to-day received. How wonderful is the thought that the best preparation for a Holy Communion is that Communion which precedes it!

We want to thank the Friends of Fatima for these Proper resources. Sources: Saint Andrew Daily Missal and the Marian Missal , 1945

Epistle:
2 Saint Peter 2: 21-25

21For to this you
have been called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example
that you should follow His steps.

22 Who did no sin, neither
was guile found in His mouth:

23 Who when He was
reviled, did not revile: when He suffered, He threatened not: but delivered
Himself to him that judged Him unjustly:

Commentary on Verse 23:Christ, Who was
incapable of sinning, did not revile them that reviled Him; He suffered
all with patience; He willingly gave Himself up to Pontius Pilate, that judged
Him, and condemned Him unjustly to the death of the cross: and remember
that all He suffered was to satisfy for your sins, that He bore our sins in His
Own body on the tree of the cross. Remember always this great benefit of your
redemption, and of your being called to believe in Him, and to be eternally
happy by following His doctrine; that all of you were as sheep going astray,
lost in your ignorance and in your sins, but that by His grace and by His
merits you are now called and converted to Jesus Christ, the great pastor and
bishop of your souls. You are happy if you live under His care, inspection, and
protection. (Witham)

24 Who His Ownself bore our sins in His body upon the tree: that we
being dead to sins, should live to justice: by Whose stripes you were healed.

25 For you were as sheep
going astray: but you are now converted to the pastor and bishop of your souls.

Gospel:
St. John 10: 11-16

11
I am the good
shepherd. The good shepherd giveth His life for His
sheep.

Commentary on Verse 11:How happy are we in
having such a shepherd, so great, so good, so loving, so
careful of our true welfare! O He is the true shepherd indeed,
that came down from Heaven to seek the poor sheep that was lost; and
when He found it, took it upon His Own shoulders to carry it home with joy to
His heavenly fold. How dearly have His sheep cost Him, for truly has He made
good in Himself this sentence, that the good shepherd giveth
His life for His sheep. Let us then ever follow and obey, love and embrace
this true shepherd of our souls. (Meditations for every Day,
vol. ii. p. 417.) The good pastor gives his life for his sheep; He
exposes himself to every danger to save them, no inclemency of the weather, no
frost or cold, no rains or tempests, can drive him from looking over his sheep,
to defend them from the attacks of wolves, &c. and like Jacob he might say,
day and night was I parched with heat, and with cold, and sleep departed from
my eyes. (Genesis xl.) Or, like David speaking to
Saul: "Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion or a
bear, and took a ram out of the midst of the flock; and I pursued after them,
and struck them, and delivered it out of their mouths; and they arose up
against me, and I caught them by the throat, and I strangled them, and killed
them." (1 Kings xvii.) This is a model of a true
pastor. But Jesus Christ has done more than this for us. He has exposed His
life and His repose, He has spilled His blood, He delivered Himself to the fury
of His enemies, and has offered Himself as a victim on the cross to His eternal
Father, to free us, His lost sheep, from the most cruel
wolf, the devil. And ever since His death He has always protected His Church,
assisted and consoled His distressed flock under all their sufferings, pouring
into their hearts the consolations of the Holy Spirit, and sending to them holy
teachers, to govern and lead them in the holy path of salvation. Such were the
apostles and their successors, the bishops and priests of the holy Catholic
Church, whom He has sent, and will continue to send, to govern His flock to the
end of time. (Calmet.)

12But the hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own
the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth:
and the wolf snatcheth, and scattereth
the sheep:

13And the hireling fleeth, because he
is a hireling: and he hath no care for the sheep.

Commentary on Verse 13:Every bishop and pastor
is bound to abide with his flock in the time of danger, and persecution, except
himself be personally sought for, rather than his flock, or the flock itself forsake him. In such cases the pastor may fly, as the
apostles did, and St. Athanasius and others. (St. Athanasius, Apol. de suâfugâ.;St. Augustine, ep.
180.)

14I am the good shepherd, and I know Mine, and Mine know Me.

Commentary on Verse 14:I know Mine, and Mine
know Me.
To know, in the style of the holy Scriptures,
is to love and approve. (Witham)

15 As the Father knoweth Me, and I know the Father, and I lay down My life for My sheep.

Commentary on Verse 15:I lay down. That is, in a short
time shall lay down My life for My sheep: for all, and in a special
manner for My elect. See ver. 28. (Witham)

16And other sheep I have, that are not of this fold: them also I
must bring, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold, and one Shepherd.

Commentary on Verse 16:One fold.In the Greek one flock.
The signification is the same; that is, there shall be one church of Jews
and Gentiles converted. (Witham)

The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord, alleluia: by the word of the Lord were the heavens made, alleluia, alleluia.
(Ps.32: 1) Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: praise is comely for the upright.
v. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Repeat The earth is full...

O God, who, by the humility of Thy Son didst lift up a fallen world, grant unending happiness to Thy faithful: that those whom Thou hast snatched from the perils of endless death, Thou mayest cause to rejoice in everlasting joys. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.R.Amen.

Prayer in honor of our Blessed Lady

Let us pray. Grant us, Thy servants, O Lord God, we beseech Thee, to enjoy continual health of mind and body, and, by the glorious intercession of blessed Mary, ever a virgin, to be delivered from present sorrow and partake of the fullness of eternal joy. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.R.Amen.

Prayer for God's Holy Church

Let us pray. Graciously hear, O Lord, the prayers of Thy Church that, having overcome all adversity and every error, she may serve Thee in security and freedom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.R.Amen.

EPISTLE: 1 Peter 2: 21-25

St, Peter, Head and Pastor of the Church of Christ tells us in his Epistle that
Jesus Is the Shepherd of our souls, which were as sheep going astray.

Lesson from the first Epistle of Blessed Peter the Apostle.
Dearly beloved, Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow His steps who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth. Who when He was reviled, did not revile: when He suffered, He threatened not, but delivered Himself to him that judged Him unjustly: who His own self bore our sins in His body upon the tree: that we, being dead to sins, should live in justice; by whose stripes you were healed. For you were as sheep going stray: but you are now converted to the shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
Thanks be to God.

The Lord be with you.R. And with thy spirit. The continuation of the holy Gospel according to John. R. Glory to Thee, O Lord

At that time Jesus said to the Pharisees: "I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. But the hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and flieth: and the wolf catcheth and scattereth the sheep: and the hireling flieth, because he is a hireling, and he hath no care for the sheep. I am the good Shepherd: and I know Mine, and Mine know Me, as the Father knoweth Me, and I know the Father: and I lay down My life for My sheep. And other sheep I have that are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd."Praise be to Christ

May this holy offering, O Lord, always bring to us Thy healing blessing: that what it represents in a Mystery, it may accomplish with power,
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end.R.Amen.

Prayer in honor of our Blessed Lady

By Thy clemency, O Lord, and the intercession of blessed Mary, ever a virgin, may this oblation profit us unto eternal and also present well being and peace. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.R.Amen.

Prayer for God's Holy Church

Protect us, O Lord, who assist at Thy mysteries, that, cleaving to things divine, we may serve Thee both in body and in mind. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.R.Amen.

The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit.
Lift up your hearts.R.We have lifted them up to the Lord.Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. R. It is meet and just. It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, at all times to praise Thee, O Lord, but more gloriously especially at this time above others when Christ our Pasch was sacrificed. For He is the true Lamb Who hath taken away the sins of the world: Who by dying hath destroyed our death: and by rising again hath restored us to life. And therefore with Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Dominations, and with all the hosts of the heavenly army, we sing the hymn of Thy glory, evermore saying: HOLY, HOLY, HOLY...

The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit.
Let us pray. Grant unto us, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that having received the grace of a new life, we may ever glory in Thy gift.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end.R.Amen.

Prayer in honor of our Blessed Lady

Let us pray. Having received the aids of our everlasting salvation, O Lord, we beseech Thee, grant us to be everywhere protected by the patronage of blessed Mary, ever a virgin, in veneration of whom we have made these offerings to Thy majesty. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.R.Amen.

Prayer for God's Holy Church

Let us pray. O Lord our God, we pray Thee that Thou suffer not to succumb to human hazards those whom Thou hast been pleased to make sharers of divine mysteries. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.R.Amen.